Challenge yourself to tat 25 motifs within the next 12 months and show us your progress. A motif can be a medallion, snowflake, heart, bookmark, butterfly, earrings or any small piece of tatting. Tell us where the pattern is from or if it's original. Post pictures on your blog, web page or photo page. Add a comment below the current post giving the location of your pictures and you will be added to the list of links.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Terry took all 13 of her tatted bells to Palmettos.This is one of the old bells, "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from the 1st book, "Tatted Ornaments" done in 2 colors with added Swarovski crystals. She spent a lot of time in the hospital with her BIL and started one of the hearts from Martha Ess' new book "Tat's Amore" but she forgot the book and had to "wing it" for part of the pattern. The variation looks good doesn't it?

Pamela couldn't find a pattern for a black swan so she used Martha's block tatted pattern for a white one. These swans are swimming in their own tatted pond.

Wendy is crocheting a lot of hexagons to create a skirt or blanket using scraps of vintage threads and working out a pattern for some gauntlets.It seems like there was a sudden snowfall in her neighborhood.

Anne has been knitting finishing up some old projects and starting some new ones.

Sarah has been busy with knitting and spinning and trying to figure out some Japanese instructions.

Joyce has finished a baby quilt in blue yellow red and green which are appropriate colours when you don't know if it's a boy or a girl.

Sapna is struggling with clunies. The first is right but the second just doesn't look right so it's cut and star t again. So she's given it a break to do onion rings, only they aren't co-operating either.

Diane tried using the thread ends to attach a motif but the thread was too thick and it didn't look any good. So she got out all of her motives and hid all the ends - much neater looking.

Bob has worked out a new design that he calls Harlequin and has shared the pattern with us. You have to be on your toes to keep track of the colour changes in this one.

Moni took a little 3 sided motif and turned in into a little doily.Kelly is trying to cram some tatting time between jobs and not having much success.

Ruth shows us the Celtic Knot butterfly for N.C. class students to try. I love it!

Clyde continues on with the Anemone doily and the next rows add contrast in colour and in the tatting. The first rows were bare of picots and the next row has and abundance of them. The 5th row adds some separation from the denser earlier rows to give some contrast in texture too.

Marilee has added some eye popping colours to her hand dyed thread and created earrings and pendant with them. She is all the rage on topicraze and is celebrating by putting some of her thread on sale in her Etsy shop.

Melissa has been working steadily on her CQ bedspread and she's thinking of doing some more blocks to create a wall hanging and co-ordinate the whole room. She had planned on adding the tatted fern, but for got about it. There will be more blocks she can add it to.

Sherry has made some ceramic reindeer bells that she plans on adding to her Etsy shop. The snowflake that she tatted has been added to the crown of a knitted hat and more "Diane" shuttles are in the works.

Kathy used an interesting 4 strand thread called "Enjoy" a 100% Cotton Lace Yarn in size 40 to tat this Workbasket motif.

Kelly joins the challenge and she has 2 motives completed. The first motif is Nancy Tracy's "Pretty Tatted Kitty" from the Be-stitched website needle tatted in size 20 thread. The second motif is the Rabbit from Lisa Trumble's web site shuttle tatted in size 20 thread.Anne's job sent her to Longyearbyen where she saw the northernmost sundial in the world which was designed by Louise Rigozzi, who Anne knows. She had enough time while away to start an Icelandic fan shawl and when she returned she had received her invitation to Ravelry.

Sarah has added a YouTube video to her web site as practice for doing hairpin lace tutorials.

Diane tatted "Posy" from Mary Konior's book "Tatting with Visual Patterns" in a variegated size 20 Flora thread and had enough left on the shuttle to do "Honesty" another pattern from the book. Then she tackled "Stella alpina" from Iris Niebach's "Tatting Fantasia" ans she loves how it fits together.

Clyde has begun his new doily "Anemone" from Tatting Doilies and Edgings by Rita Weiss.

Mark has added more pictures of his trip to Colorado to his album. The demonstration on the weekend went really well and now they get to concentrated on decorating the gymnasium to make it look like something other than a gym and make and decorate the cakes for the wedding this weekend.

I posted a picture of a tatted dress made by Sheila Dusome. It's been worn by 2 generations of tatters.Snowy was talking to Laura and that prompted her to get out her bobbin lace to make a bookmark. Shown on her blog is a roller pillow with the bookmark in progress.

Sherry tatted this snowflake from DMC's Tatting for Today #15209 "Tree Top Ornament" and now she's wondering how to stiffen it.Wally has added a small rosette to her flower designs. This one is from an antique book, but she can't remember which one.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Elizabeth tatted this design using a copper thread that gives a lovely effect. The thread is a stinker to work with, so she doesn't make any large projects with it.

Pamela loves Marth Ess' critters. Her newest additions are the tigers done in Flora thread sizes 10 and 20. It's the perfect colour for these little guys.Wendy has a yo-yo tutorial on her blog and she's been having some fun spelling with decorative blocks.

Sarah has added a new knitting pattern to her site and her books have arrived. They passed inspection so now they are in the shop for sale.

Connie has been packing for Sukkot and wondering if she's packed more projects than she needs. One of her projects is stalled a little as she fixed a problem with broken thread. The motif is one of Jon's designs "Hearts Snowflake" made with Omega size 50 thread she received in an exchange.

Norma has been stitching for the TAST challenge and working on a CQ block. She has also posted some pictures of the ceremonies at Virginia Military Institute where her granddaughter is a cadet.

Bob has posted pictures of the 4 legged family members and the amazing cluny leaves and flowers he designed. He's not sure what to do with it, but maybe it would look good on a denim bag.

Bev did Sue Hanson's one pass fan and says it's great for practicing split rings. Now all she has to do is add beads and a tassel on the bottom.Ruth taught this little birdie at Shuttlebirds, and in N.C. this year. After Palmetto's she stayed with Katie and this is the one that Katie tatted.Clyde has plans to tat a doily using some of the wonderful Hand Dyed Hues thread and he's wondering if he should post pictures in progress or wait until it's done. Sign in to vote for your choice.

Mark has posted some pictures of his 2 felines and will be posting more pictures from his trip soon. He and Kim have lots of decorating work to do for the upcoming wedding and just to make things interesting they have a lace and silk ribbon embroidery demonstration to do this weekend.

The Mobile Tatter's Guild in Mobile, Alabama purchased this dress, hat and purse which were found in an attic. Laura's friend, Elizabeth, who is a member of the guild is the model for the dress. Laura has also opened an Etsy shop where she has a collection of crocheted items and a needlepoint bench cover for sale.

Charlene has posted her pictures from Palmetto's where she took several workshops. She did folded rings with Marth Ess. The Footprint, Angel, Shamrock, and the beginnings of a Daisy are the items she has to show. Then she did the Flower Wreath with Karey Solomon. She took the Cluny Flower Bookmark with Mimi Dillman, but will need a little practice on that one, and then it was on to Jane Eborall's Red Eyed Frog. Afterward she picked up "Tatting Patterns" by Lyn Morton from the sales room and she's already done a beaded butterfly from the book using some of her new threads.

Melissa shares some wonderful fabrics and laces she was gifted to help embellish her CQ bedspread.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

When I viewed the blogs today I noticed that several people had posted a bunch of new pictures. I am going to try to post all of the tatting pictures from the blogs this year, but no promises. If I run out of time I may have to select only one image or I may have to join them all together to get them to fit. If something you posted doesn't get copied over to the challenge page, it isn't a personal insult, I just didn't have the time to get them all and make Blogger display them where I wanted them.

Lynda has some more ideas for her Christmons decorations and she created an edging she calls "Rose Garden" that's very pretty.

Pamela has been tatting puppy dogs from Martha Ess' "New Critters on the Block". She used Coats Aida 10 for the larger pup and vintage Coats Chain 20 for the smaller one. Inga Madsen's book "'Tatted Animals" has another canine that Pamela did in Coats Red Heart 20.

Connie has tatted her first snowflake using rings off the top of a chain. It's Teri Dusenbury's Wheel Of Fortune Snowflake 1992. Done in DMC Cebelia Pink and Ecru size 30. She has also started the basic pattern from Wally's Tatalong.

Diane has completed "Hope" from Mary Konior's "Tatting with Visual Patterns" in size 20 Flora, color #55 and she has posted bot it and "Angelica" which has now been blocked. Isn't it amazing the difference blocking makes?Moni has taken the plunge and joined the challenge. Her first piece is a necklace that uses a simple motif connect by a zigzag chain. Very pretty! Moni's blog is in Hungarian, but she's going to include English subtitles for those of us who are linguistically challenged.Marilee has posted "Carnival" earrings on her blog and she generously shares the pattern with us along with tips on adding a bead to the centre of the design.

Congratulations for Nurse Candace. Laura is thrilled that her daughter has passed her state board tests.

Sherry has hit the milestone of her 100th post.To celebrate she has selected 3 of her $40 ceramic shuttles and listed them on ebay for $10. If you're interested, you'd better get your bid in fast.

Kathy has been on a business trip and had lots of time to tat. She continues to use threads she received in exchanges and all of these patterns are from Workbasket magazines.The white motif is Olympus size 40. The colourful snowflake is made with Valdani pearl cotton and the square motif is YLI Quilting Thread colour V73 called Maui Sunset. The fan motif was tatted with Altin Basak Size 50, colour number 3053 and Kathy says she had to do a lot of guessing and looking at the picture to get it done.

Wally decided on tatting flowers for her next 25 and she already has 4 done. The first is called Summer Blossom I. Summer Blossom II uses Daisy Picot or Floral Picot technique and the pattern will be available later in a book with patterns using this technique. Her third flower is called Summer Blossom III. June Flower is her fourth flower and it, like Summer Blossom I and III are in her book "Quick Tatting". Wally has included the link making it easy to purchase the book.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Lynda tatted 3 hearts from Martha's new book. These hearts used split rings and Lynda remarks that they are definitely for Advanced Intermediate Tatters. We're seeing lots of examples of Martha's hearts and they're all really pretty.

An old edging pattern from her grandmother's collection was the inspiration for the base of these earrings. Elizabeth used Caron Wildflowers thread for them but she finds it a little soft for tatting.Patti has been taking some serger classes and as a result has some new items added to her Etsy shop. The bunny is adorable.

Anne received a tatting stamp from Handy Hands and the pattern for the motif on the stamp. She's had fun playing with both. The dragon from Pam Palmer is completed, but Pam left the ends hanging so that she has something to use to attach it to the fabric background. Now to select a fabric.

Sarah's test prints of The Any Yarn, Any Size Knit Hat Book were cleared by customs and her anticipation is rising.

Connie has a whole lot of crocheted doilies completed and she has finally got the pictures posted. Beautiful work. I'm still looking for the tatted doily.

Diane took a trip to Alabama to visit their parents and tatted on the trip. She finished "Angelica" from Mary Konior's "Tatting in Lace" in size 20 "Cool Green" colour from Yarnplayer. She worked on a couple of other patterns as well and she'll post pictures later.

Ruth is still travelling but hopes to be back to doing the calendar next week.

I posted a review of the patterns in the Tatted Lace Pattern Collection. I always know how much lace I make in a year as they show up in the newsletter. The 25 Motif Challenge has given other people the opportunity to keep a record of what they have done as well. It's nice to look back and see all of the wonderful things we have created. It gives a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

Laura posts a lovely picture of the Rosette Doily designed by Jon. It does look like the old fashioned crocheted doilies.

Sherry has finished canning her hot sauce, got some yard work done, hardwood floors installed and still managed to tat Jane's seahorse. It looks just like the real one she found and preserved.

I must have been tired when I posted this as I didn't hyperlink people's names as I usually do and folks have had to use the list on the side to find the blogs. It's fixed now.